In 1963 Martin Luther King wrote, in his too-infrequently read Letter from a Birmingham Jail, "the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be...the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists." I have been motivated by this statement, on and off stage, for years. William Parker is the rare musician working these days who connects the notes he plays and composes, the things he has to say, the way he operates in the scene, to the revolutionary legacies of jazz. His example is visionary and inspiring. He is a creative extremist.

When Ars Nova announced that William Parker and Muhammad Ali would be coming to the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia to perform a King-inspired piece with local improvisers, I knew I had to connect to this project. Even before knowing that MLK had attended a formative sermon here, I knew the genius loci of the side chapel to be deep. I recorded my solo album in its meditative, warm resonance last summer. But this project is not about solos, despite the roster of Philly elders joining us - Odean Pope, Marshall Allen, Dave Burrell, and Bobby Zankel. Parker's work seems to me to be about a collective expression. He gave us an instrumentation and it was a privilege to find and put together a new ensemble of Philadelphia musicians very much dedicated to this kind of work. The scores that Parker created reveal not too much beyond short motifs and harmonies of intense beauty. But the music is not on the paper; rather, it's in the interactions and the musicians ourselves. We will use the scores to support, propel, and contrast the improvisations each night, navigating Parker's ideas and our collective intuition to further the revolutionary legacy of this music.

Ars Nova Workshop is a Philadelphia nonprofit jazz and experimental music presenting organization. ANW informs, inspires, and challenges listeners to elevate the role of jazz, improvisation, and experimental music in contemporary culture. ANW events provide a forum for discourse, emergent trends in contemporary music, and unique forms of cultural exchange, while nurturing a diverse community for innovative music.